“Greg, What is the difference between a physical therapist being a good physical therapist and being an exceptional physical therapist?”

One word:

INVESTMENT.

That is the difference between a physical therapist, a good physical therapist, and an exceptional physical therapist. How much investment do you put into yourself?

Let me explain.

When you go to school, you spend $60-$150,000 dollars on your physical therapy degree to get that PT license.

But that just makes you a physical therapist. That was me in December 2000. I got my license, yippee!!!!. A year and a half into becoming a physical therapist, I decided I wanted to be great.

So I did 180 CEUs, you have to do 24 every 2 years in Florida.

For the average PT, that’s what they do in about eight years.
I did it in a year and a half because I decided the only way I am going to get better as a clinical physical therapist is if I invest in myself and I am going to go and do Continuing Education because at that time that’s all I knew.

I just thought that the way to get better is by becoming better technically.

So I did it, and I invested in myself. I did 180 CEUs over the next year and a half. It was a good thing because that led me to have the confidence to help more people.

A year and a half into that job, an opportunity opened up to move me into management. I probably would not have taken that if I was just an average clinical 1.5 year PT.

Because I had invested quite a bit in myself clinically, I was like, “I am pretty good for a year and a half physical therapist, so I can go into management and give me a near 50% raise.”

It did give me a near 50% raise. 🙂

Between 1.5 and year 4, I did get my CSCS, I did get my OCS, so I am not a clinical slouch here. And I did all my courses for MTC through the University of St. Augustine, so it was not like I was slouching.

Now even though I was padding the initials, it didn’t make me an exceptional PT yet….

To be an exceptional physical therapist, you not only have to invest in yourself beyond clinical, but you also have to get to the point where you are investing in others.

I will tell you the first thing that I did is I went to a personal development course. At this point, I am now 5.5 years into being a physical therapist, a year and a half into having my practice, and I knew that I need to become more well-rounded.

When I came back from that conference, which was a live event, I was a better person. I was a more confident person. I wasn’t tripping anymore when people’s insurances was $50 and $60; I had confidence in myself, I knew I was worth it.

That conference changed the game for me. The majority of physical therapist they could be 15-25 years out, and they struggle with that because they have no confidence in themselves.

It was stuff going on between the ears that I had to figure out, but I invested in myself. The common denominator here is INVESTMENT.

I am investing in myself.

So now I have a practice, I am hustling, I am grinding, I am doing my thing, but I can only see so many people.

So I hire someone, and again I am investing now in my business, and I am investing in someone else. And as I continue to invest in people, it turned me from being a good physical therapist to now an exceptional physical therapist. Today, I have more impact than 99% of physical therapists in the United States.

Not only I am doing what I am doing as a clinician, but I am training other people to do what they are doing and having the same type of effect. But I had to now invest in people.

The common denominator here is INVESTMENT

You will say,

“I am not there yet.”

“Well, you are, but you just haven’t come to terms with it.”

We invest $680 to $750 for every credit to get the licensure so if there are other things out there whether they are live events, courses, there are things that can make you better, you do it.

You just might not find it of value to you right now, but that’s the difference between a physical therapist, a good physical therapist, and an exceptional physical therapist.

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http://gregtoddpt.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/blog20617-3-1.png315560Greg Toddhttp://gregtoddpt.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/PTB-300x148.pngGreg Todd2017-08-27 15:38:102017-10-15 18:17:47The Difference Between a Good PT and an Exceptional PT